


Eye for an Eye

by airspaniel



Category: Tin Man (2007)
Genre: M/M, Revenge, Sexual Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-12-21
Updated: 2007-12-21
Packaged: 2017-10-19 12:37:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/200922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/airspaniel/pseuds/airspaniel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The only thing he cared about was revenge.  But he could be patient.  He was good at being patient.  And in time, he found his opportunity.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Eye for an Eye

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted [here.](http://yumemiru-kikai.livejournal.com/14866.html)

Jeb understood the concept of poetic justice, so when his father locked the madman Zero away in the suit, he stood stone and said nothing.

It pleased him to imagine it, Zero’s screams for mercy, the day when those screams would stop and he would realize that, for him, there would be nothing else. To imagine his body, lean and pale, stripped of his leather and armor; slowly wasting away day by day, until there was nothing left but dust, rattling in agony.

It never failed to bring a smile to his face.

What Jeb did not understand was why his father had _let the man go._

“If we kill him, son, we’re no better than he is.”

Jeb didn’t care about that. The only thing he cared about was revenge. But he could be patient. He was good at being patient.

And in time, he found his opportunity.

“Hello, Jeb,” Zero greeted him mirthlessly. “Come to finish the job?”

Jeb drew his gun, holding it in front of himself like a talisman. “Shut up,” he spat, advancing slowly.

“I won’t stop you.” And indeed the man lowered his head, staring idly at his clasped hands.

Zero seemed smaller now, diminished, a shell of the man he once had been. Still, that changed nothing. He kept his gun up as he closed the distance between them, crossing the small room with wide steps that did not betray his nervousness.

“I am going to kill you,” he declared.

Zero smiled, perfectly genuine. “Are you trying to convince me, or yourself?”

“I am going to take this gun and put it to your head, and I am going to _end_ you.”

“So do it,” Zero’s voice was matter-of-fact. He reached out a long elegant hand and traced the barrel of the gun, pulling it towards him until the mouth rested against his forehead. “Right here.”

Jeb slapped his hand away, fisting his own hand in dark blonde hair and pulling Zero’s head back sharply. He dug the gun into the sensitive flesh beneath the man’s chin and was gratified at the hiss of pain he got in return.

“Just shut up! After what you did to my mother, what you did to _me_ … you have no right to say anything to me.”

Zero closed his eyes, relishing the memory. “I remember, Jeb. The way your mother screamed, how she begged. ‘Don’t hurt my son!’ she cried. ‘I’ll do anything you want, just leave him alone.’ It was so adorable.” He laughed at the unintentional pun before continuing, opening his bright cruel eyes and holding Jeb with the weight of his gaze.

“And she did, you know. Anything I wanted. And she did it so well, too. Obviously your father wasn’t taking care of things at home.”

Jeb was shaking, furious and helpless. “Stop it…”

But Zero was undaunted, walking the young man slowly backwards towards the wall. “Do you remember that, Jeb? The way she arched up against me, the way she wrapped those long, long legs around my waist and just held on?” He laughed darkly when Jeb’s back hit the boards. “Oh, but you were just a boy then. You probably didn’t understand what was happening.”

Jeb swallowed thickly, caged against the wall. How had he lost control of the situation? He was still the one with the gun, the one with the right; so how was it that he was now the one afraid?

“But you did understand, Jeb, when I reached for you. And just like now, you were so very scared.”

“Please,” Jeb sighed, horrified at the way the word sounded falling from his lips.

Zero smiled like a razor’s edge, pressing the length of his wiry body up against the younger man, one leg roughly invading the tight space between Jeb’s own. “Do you still think about it, Jeb? Late at night when it’s dark and you’re so very alone? My hands on your skin…” He punctuated the statement with a slow slide of one cold hand under the thin fabric of Jeb’s shirt.

Jeb gasped and arched, into the contact or away from it he couldn’t tell, and his eyes fell shut against his will. His nerves were on fire, and he couldn’t focus, couldn’t escape. Wasn’t sure he wanted to.

The click of a pistol being cocked at his temple took him entirely by surprise. Zero stepped back, holding Jeb confidently at gunpoint.

“Don’t start things you don’t intend to finish, little boy.” He waved the gun casually towards the door. “Now why don’t you run along home? I’m sure Daddy’s wondering where you’ve been.”


End file.
